But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.Īrriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge-there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous.

Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.Īn imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. THE SANATORIUM is a superb debut mystery novel, and I’m already looking forward to seeing what this author writes next. Enter the world of THE SANATORIUM: you won’t want to leave, which is lucky, because you just might not be able to. Sarah Pearse’s atmospheric, detail-oriented writing brings this sinister story to life, immersing readers in the beautiful-yet-unsettling world of sanatorium-turned-hotel Le Sommet-and all the deadly secrets hidden within its walls.

What begins as a slow-burning suspense story gradually builds to a thriller that will have you up all night turning its pages. When a snowstorm cuts off access to and from the hotel, it’s up to protagonist Elin to investigate a series of disturbing occurrences within the hotel, and get to the bottom of the case before anyone else gets hurt.

Following a woman who has recently taken a leave of absence from her work as a detective, THE SANATORIUM pits an unwitting group of individuals against a shadowy killer who appears to be at work in a high-end, minimalist hotel nestled in the Swiss Alps. Selected as Reese Witherspoon’s February book club pick, Pearse’s debut novel delivers all the atmosphere, chilling intrigue, and hair-raising suspense that I hoped for and more. This debut novel blends elements of Gothic suspense with a locked room mystery set in the Swiss Alps, and the result is an irresistible, just-one-more-page thriller perfect for your next wintry read. The Verdict: a gripping locked room mystery with Gothic touchesĪs I write this review, I’m in a bit of a reading slump, and I blame it entirely on how much I loved Sarah Pearse’s atmospheric, sinister mystery THE SANATORIUM.

The sanatorium book cover